The streaming wars have a new front, as the leading players compete to woo Gen Z and Millennial audiences by building up their anime catalogues. Netflix is the biggest player in the field, with a catalog that includes some of the most iconic anime plus numerous successful original shows, but HBO Max is looking to catch up through its partnership with Toho International’s American distributor GKIDS.
That partnership brought Studio Ghibli’s library to streaming for the first time in 2020, a deal that was reupped in 2024. The arrangement will bring HBO Max nearly 20 more anime films, including works by celebrated directors Mamoru Hosoda and Satoshi Kon and the North American streaming debut of several titles including Yôko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s 2024 film Ghost Cat Anzu and Keiichi Hara’s 2022 film Lonely Castle in the Mirror.
The first batch of titles including Makoto Shinkai’s 2011 coming-of-age story Children Who Chase Lost Voices will be available to all HBO Max subscribers on Sept. 1, though only premium subscribers will be able to see some of the North American and 4K streaming debuts. Other titles coming to the streamer in 2025 and 2026 include Masaaki Yuasa’s 2004 experimental comedy Mind Game and the North American streaming debut of Mamoru Oshii’s 1985 OVA Angel’s Egg.
Beyond anime, GKIDs will also give HBO Max the 4K streaming debut of Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s 2016 masterpiece Shin Godzilla, a version that ran in U.S. theaters in August. Godzilla Minus One is currently streaming on Netflix, making the kaiju franchise yet another front in the battle for subscribers.
Here’s a full list of everything coming to HBO Max:
- Children Who Chase Lost Voices (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
- Fireworks (dir. Akiyuki Shinbo, Noboyuki Takeuchi)
- Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (dir. Ayumu Watanabe)
- Ghost Cat Anzu (dir. Yôko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita)
- Lonely Castle in the Mirror (dir. Keiichi Hara)
- Love & Pop (dir. Hideaki Anno)
- The Place Promised in Our Early Days (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
- Your Name. (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
- Angel’s Egg (dir. Mamoru Oshii)
- Liz and the Blue Bird (dir. Naoko Yamada)
- Lu Over the Wall (dir. Masaaki Yuasa)
- Millennium Actress (dir. Satoshi Kon)
- Mind Game (dir. Masaaki Yuasa)
- Perfect Blue (dir. Satoshi Kon)
- Shin Godzilla (dir. Hideaki Anno, co-director Shinji Higuchi)
- Summer Wars (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
- The Boy and the Beast (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
- The Colors Within (dir. Naoko Yamada)
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
- Wolf Children (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
